[Peter Ansoff]

Even Barack Obama has trouble with how many states there are

Sounds to me like it was just a slip of the tongue -- he meant "47" instead of "57." He was saying that he'd been in all but one of the contiguous states, which don't include Alaska and Hawaii.

Peter Ansoff

[Micah]

I guess the biggest issue that I have is not with people visiting from other countries or living in other countries not knowing how many states make up this Great Country, but with people who were educated here not knowing that there are only 50 states (48 contiguous). That to me is inexcusable, either that they were never taught this fact, or that they never bothered to learn it. I think that this myth is formulated from people who think that Puerto Rico and Guam/or Washington D.C. are 51 and 52....HOW RIDICULOUS is that?! Yes, I understand that they can vote on certain issues/candidates, however they have not been inducted into our union of states, and they don't really pay taxes to the federal government, however receiving many of the benefits of statehood. Why would they want to be an official state, when they get all of the benefits, but don't have to pay up for it...

On a side note.....If Obama misspoke...that is a serious blunder, because he of all people the President of the United States should know it. Now if Dan Quayle, Dick Cheney, GW, said that, they would be crucified by the press to no end. It is time that we wake up to the fact that we need leaders in Congress and On the Bench, and in the WH who know the facts, and are willing to stand up to those groups or things that threaten our Constitution. Don't get me wrong, there are some great people in Congress at this time, both Democrat and Republican. This is not about partisan, but about the survival of our nation's founding principals.

I do think that this topic raises a point, that it is interesting how they could either change the history books to reflect this myth, and in a few short years, you can even find it popping up in TV shows, Movies, etc. It is quite frightening how many have just accepted this blatant myth....think about how they could rewrite history to suit their purposes.....the founding fathers didn't believe in God, they wanted the Gov to run every part of their lives, for the betterment of the disadvantaged....subtle changes will cascade into judges interpreting the law from a certain race's, certain monetary class, etc. They are not there to take into account circumstances, but to judge the case purely upon the law.

Ok, enough rants.....I really like this site...and I really like that so many people from other countries have contributed.
thx
Micah

[j green]

To Micah,

Concerning your take on the mythical "52" states, all I can say is "RIGHT ON!" It was very well put. It is scary that this information is just floatin' around and that it is bound to lurk over our history books.

[Peter Ansoff]

.....If Obama misspoke...that is a serious blunder, because he of all people the President of the United States should know it.

Aw, c'mon now. It was a simple slip of the tongue. I'm sure that all presidential candidates are very clear on how many states there are!

I do think that this topic raises a point, that it is interesting how they could either change the history books to reflect this myth, and in a few short years, you can even find it popping up in TV shows, Movies, etc. It is quite frightening how many have just accepted this blatant myth....think about how they could rewrite history to suit their purposes.....

Naah. It's just a silly bit of nonsense that cropped up someplace -- anyone who can look at a map and count to 50 knows that it's not true. I don't think we need to worry about the history books. And, anyway, whose "purposes" would be served by trying to convince people that there are 52 states?

Peter Ansoff

[Micah]

Pete,
I am not saying that someone would have motive for trying to convince people that there are 52 states and changing the text books to reflect that, however what I am saying is that if a large portion of people will believe this, even if they feel that it was wrong at the beginning, the more it is repeated, it will become even stronger than fact. In otherwords, 2+2=4....well if some respected Math Professor said, actually it =5, and enough popular actors, actresses, news people, radio personalities, and politicians started to accept it, and repeat it on their venues...in a few years, it is possible (not probable) that we may just need to change the text books. Again, math is something that is not normally subjective...but they have made history subjective, basically by saying that your guy lied....mine didn't so you need to believe me.
When we have judges who think it is their duty to judge based on their life, circumstances, experiences, aquaintences, etc, we have a big problem. The writing of the laws should take this into account, not the judicial branch. But we have this mindset that is now accepted that we have to look at every angle....why did that Japanese gentleman hit that Chinese gentleman....is it a hate crime? They don't like each other that much based on their family histories......hmmmm hate crime? could be (by today's standards).

I remember about 10 or more years ago, the Oakland School Board (in California) decided to introduce an alternative to English for Black People...Ebonics. I was quite pleased that the loudest outcry was from the Black community (I mainly heard middle class families more often than not). They were extremely offended that something like this was devised to hold them back, or to show that they could not actually learn to speak in Proper, professional english. That said, I come to my point....I know, I know getting there....Now in California and in certain school districs, (it doesn't seem to be an across the board test), there are tests which ask questions about living in impoverished conditions, or from a standpoint....the problem with this is that it pits one group against the other. They want to say that minorities can't relate....I am sorry, they can, and they do, every day. But this is similar to the reasoning behind Ebonics, they need special educational help....(when they really don't).

This was only 10 years ago, and now in the Bay Area, it seems that it is almost fact now, that they do need a different test for the high school exit exam because of their upbrining. (I thought it was supposed to test you on what you have learned at school....

Pretty soon, we will find out that the founding fathers were not the good decent men we admire, but greedy white rich land owners who wanted slaves, and tricked the little guy into fighting a war that they did not understand the reasoning behind.

Pick up a copy of a high school history book, and see if anything seems out of place, askew for the last 600 years. The scary thing is, that if the book says it, even if it is wrong, some teachers will teach it....maybe because they accept it with out any question (very dangerous), or they don't want to take the time to point it out, research it, because it is soooo much easier to keep it under wraps, the students won't notice......

Sorry it is 3am...and I am afraid that my sentences and thought patterns are at a stage that are unreliable at best.....


thank you for the replies....
Micah

[Robin Hickman]

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Hello, Micah, and welcome to our forums!


I've read your posts on this site and a question immediately came to mind :

Micah, WHY are you HERE ???


Robin Hickman
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[Micah]

Why am I here in this forum? Originally it was because I wanted to know where some people had come up with the '52' states.

It sounds as if I have offended you. I apologize for that. I will refrain from any further postings.

Thank you,
Micah

[Robin Hickman]

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QUOTE : "Why am I here in this forum? Originally it was because I wanted to know where some people had come up with the '52' states. It sounds as if I have offended you. I apologize for that. I will refrain from any further postings."


No ,Micah, you did NOT "offend" me !!!

(And even if you did, so what?)

I'm ONLY ONE person out of the many who are members here or the many times more who visit this site.

While I may disagree with some of the things you've written, or the way you wrote them, I am NOT of the opinion that you should "refrain from any further postings".

I am, however, curious as to "why" you are here. What was it that brought you here? Did you Google, "52 States"? If you did, then you'd know that we were only second on the results page. Yahoo Answers is #1 out of over 47,000 pages.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080906191651AAoHwdL


All kinds of people visit here for all kinds of reasons, most of which are connected in some way to the American Flag. Most of them look through the various threads and posts and leave without anybody knowing they were ever here.

But a few of them, from time to time, have a question or concern they'd like to have addressed so they join and start a thread or add a reply to someone else's thread.

BUT.....

The truth is, hardly anybody ever joins this website's forums and marks the occasion by launching into a long, laborious rant.

When that DOES happen, I get curious and want to know, "why".


So you see, Micah, you did NOT offend me. You just piqued my curiosity, that's all. So there's really no reason for you to apologize.

It was most certainly NOT my intent to offend you or scare you away. If my first post here gave you that impression, then I apologoze to you.

You are more than welcome to post here.


Robin Hickman
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[NAVA1974]

Did anyone notice that this one thread has over 42 THOUSAND hits??!!!??
Is it because this is such a common mistake that people are looking to verify / repuduiate this burning question about our nation's composition? Or is it because the "O" word was used? [O_ba_ma]

[Robin Hickman]

.

ONLY 42,429 Views ???



Is that all ???



We'll have to do something about THAT !!!


BARACK OBAMA, GEORGE BUSH, GEORGE W. BUSH, SARAH PALIN, MICHAEL JACKSON, SEX, AMERICA, UNITED STATES, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, U.S., U.S.A, US, USA, DICK CHENEY, JOE BIDEN, BILL CLINTON, HILLARY CLINTON, RONALD REAGAN, JIMMY CARTER, CONSTITUTION, BILL OF RIGHTS, PATRIOT, PATRIOTISM, FLAG, FLAGS, OLD GLORY, STAR-SPANGLED BANNER, GOLD FRINGE, FRINGE ELEMENT, SCANDAL, SECRET, CONSPIRACY THEORY, CONSPIRACIES, PLOT, NEW WORLD ORDER, ALEX JONES, GLENN BECK, PORN, FOUNDING FATHERS, SUPREME COURT, REPUBLICAN, DEMOCRAT, INDEPENDENT, INDEPENDENCE, INDEPENDENCE DAY, HOLIDAY, GEORGE WASHINGTON, THOMAS JEFFERSON, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, JOHN ADAMS, JAMES MADISON, JAMES MONROE, THOMAS PAINE, PAUL REVERE, MOLLY PITCHER, BETSY ROSS, WAR, REVOLUTION, EVOLUTION, SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE, AMENDMENT, OATH, MASON, MASONS, MASONIC, SECRET, TOP SECRET, CONFIDENTIAL, TEA PARTY, TEA BAGGERS, RIOT, UPRISING, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, COLONY, COLONIES, 13, THIRTEEN, 50, FIFTY, 48, FORTY-EIGHT, SENATE, HOUSE, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, CONGRESS, STATES, 52, FIFTY-TWO, FIFTY-TWO STATES, UP YOUR NOSE WITH A RUBBER HOSE, ET CETERA.


THERE! That ought to do it !!!


OOPS!

I Almost forgot the MOST important one,


ROBIN HICKMAN
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